Muppet Movie

As soon as I saw advertisements for this movie I knew that I wanted to see this Thanksgiving weekend with the family. I have fond memories of watching the Muppet's with the older girls as they were little. One of the first times Jessica giggled as a baby was at "Animal" on the Muppet show. I was looking forward to hearing her giggle. Because we weren't seated very close together I didn't get to hear it but it was fun to imagine.

Afterwards the family came to the house to help decorate our Christmas tree with us. We decided to simplify and go with one this year since we will be spending the first week of December in Honolulu. I didn't take pictures while we were putting the ornaments on because I became so involved in it. When I opened the box with Cydney's little hand in it I fell apart, mourning the loss of my own little ones but enjoying the little ones that were there.

Before I brought out all of the decorations the kids were entertaining Grandpa and playing with a keyboard that I brought out of storage. All ages wanted to play with it, so it made things interesting.
Spencer tried to practice his Christmas piano piece on the small keyboard during the time that he had it.

Emma as cute as always taking a break from play. she loved pulling the ornaments off as fast as we put them on, memories.... with so many hands we had the tree decorated very quickly. The rest of the house is decorated a little since we will be gone I wanted to have it done when we came home. I have also done 98% of the shopping and it is wrapped and the ones needing shipping are on the way. A great feeling.



Manamana.....

Day of Thanks

This year we did two turkeys, one regular roast and the other with herb butter basted. Kerry and I loved the herbed one we did two years ago and so we decided to do two smaller birds to make everyone happy. It worked.

Natalie's creativity keeps shinning, like all of my amazing girls! She made these cute little sandwiches for the younger kids while dinner was cooking.

She also made these edible cornucopias as place markers for dinner, so cute!

The dinner table.

We wish the Jensen's were here with us to complete the table, we miss them.

Caleb after enjoying the cornucopia.

Dave and Tanner checking out the candle centerpiece.

These guys were pretty proud of the beautiful pies they helped make.

Emma was so tired that she didn't make it all of the way through dinner, she had her own little dinner after we finished.

Such a delightful boy.

We haven't played games together forever, sad but true. Rebecca had played this game with friends and was so excited to play it with family members. We actually played various games from the WI to Clue. It was fun to relax and enjoy one anothers company.

Caleb amazed me as he played and solved this game. He was very methodical and solved it quickly, pretty bright guy. He will actually give his mom a run for the money when it comes to games, maybe he can eventually beat her a Boggle since no one else can!



I so love my family and am grateful for the time that we are able to spend together. This is such a wonderful time of year as it gives us time to reflect on the many blessings that we have. I am grateful that I live in this nation and enjoy the freedoms that I enjoy. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the Plan of Salvation which offers me the promise of being with my family forever. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and the great man that he is and the Priesthood he holds. I am also grateful that the surgeries are over for him and that they went well. I am grateful for five amazing daughters and the women that they have become. I am thankful for four sons-in-law that love those daughters and care for them and for the good men they are. Then there are these amazing eight Grandchildren that have come into our lives what wonderful sweet blessings they are. I am thankful for my little dog, Quate, he is truly my little buddy. It makes me sad that he is aging so quickly, enough said about that...

I miss my mom and dad more than I can express, I am grateful for the great people they were, for their example in my life and I look forward to seeing them one day and telling them personally how much I love them. I also love my brother and sister so much and don't tell them often enough either. So many blessing in my life I could never adequately express my gratitude. Thanks to so many who do so much in my life. Most of all I am grateful for the Savior and his sacrifice on our behalf and the hope of returning to Our Father In Heaven one day


Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Tradition---memories of Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving I got up and jumped in the shower before the troops started to come for the day. I was going through the check list in my mind to make sure everything was on track. As I started to think of the different foods we were making I began to remember where we were first introduced to specific foods and how they came to be a part of our "tradition."


Turkey- on every families table we know.. (This year we did two-- a regular turkey and a second with herbs from our garden. Yum)


Dressing- Kerry's dad made the dressing for our family (of course the time he added egg nog by mistake was quite memorable and something we still laugh about today.)


Mashed potatoes and gravy- a general basic and thankfully I learned about gravy from my mom.


Yams or yums- as my family calls them. I think these were a product of Kerry's dad again but I do know that we have embraced them as ours over the years.


Cinnamon apples- this doesn't grace our table often but it is something that my sister-in-law, Elaine, would bring to the table when we gathered as a Smith family. No one in the family likes it but me so I don't make them often. I love the taste and the smell of them as they cook.


Pumpkin roll- most of our family really don't care for pumpkin pie but put pumpkin roll on the table and it goes quickly.


Cranberry sauce-The canned kind was what I grew up with but Kerry's dad always made his with cranberries, orange juice, and orange rind, with sugar.


While thinking about all of these delightful goodies and family traditions I began singing in my mind the song from Fiddler on the Roof-Tradition. It led me to think of a scene where he is singing about his girls and it shows them close up and then far away and suddenly I was overwhelmed with emotion. As I have listened to different videos trying to find this particular video the words to "Sunrise Sunset" have been stuck in my mind.

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older.

When did they?


When did she get to be a beauty?

When did he grow to be this tall?

Wasn't it yesterday when

They were small?


Sunrise, sunset.

Sunrise, sunset.

Swiftly flow the days

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,

Blossoming even as we gaze.


Sunrise, sunset.

Sunrise, sunset.

Swiftly fly the years

One season following another,

Laden with happiness and tears.


What words of wisdom can I give them?

How can I help to ease their way?

Now, they must learn from one another,

Day by day.


They look so natural together,

Just like two newlyweds should be.

Is there a canopy in store for me?


Sunrise, sunset.

Sunrise, sunset.

Swiftly flow the days.

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,

Blossoming even as we gaze.


Sunrise, sunset.

Sunrise, sunset.

Swiftly fly the years.

One season following another,

Laden with happiness and tears.

I know some of my girls will laugh at the mention of Fiddler on the Roof because I was goofing around doing the "If I were a Rich Man" dance with the movie, not realizing they were watching me years ago. But now that they are older and more mature (most of the time!) I hope they will read the words and know what they mean to me.

"Unkie Marv"

Just after Jessica was born Kerry's Uncle Marv introduced himself to her, he said "Hi, I am your Unkie Marv." That title never left it was a term of endearment for him with our family. Unkie Marv passed away after a long illness and much suffering. I am glad he has been released from the pain. He was a sweet man with a very soft spoken voice and had a gentle laugh. His funeral was small and graveside on a beautiful day in November.

Tanner found as many temples on the headstones as he could find.
Marv had served in the Army, a thought I hadn't realized until we saw the flag and the men in uniform. i
I don't do well with Taps and the 21 gun salute but it is a wonderful tribute to a fallen soldier.

Kerry's mom, the Matriarch of the family, received the flag that covered his casket. In her terms she's the oldest!

I was grateful that I was holding Olivia and protecting her ears from the gun shots because I didn't pull the ugly crying face as Taps was played. I am also grateful for Marv's service in the Military.

Marv's nephews were pall bearers for Marv.

The surviving sisters. Linda, Pat, and Donna

Sleepy Boy

Rachel often stops by after school or picks Jack up when I have been watching him. Since he started doing the army crawl and crawling he is never still. On this day he was a little fussy so Rachel gave him his "binky" and he fell asleep right in the middle of a crawl on the floor.

So cute.

She got down by him to make sure he stayed alseep
What a sweet boy.

Jessica B-day

We celebrated Jessica a day late. We went to dinner at a new Mexican place in Eagle Mountain and then went to her house for birthday pie.

Notice how the boys are drawn to "Aunt Rebecca?"
The little ones all wanted to be in the Elmo seat but Emma won out!
Love those bright eyes!
In the middle of the story! Jack really wants to play with the big boys, but isn't sure how yet.
Speaking of big boys....
Time for presents.
And birthday pie? Tanner having just celebrated his birthday was all about blowing out the candles!
Notice the age, Dave improvised! Fun evening with the family again.

Boo 2011

I must admit I wasn't much in the mood for Halloween this year and only put out a few decorations. But happily we had some of the cutest goblins visit us tonight!

The first cute family to visit us, all decked out.
For Spencer the pirate legacy continues. Jessica did a great job with this costume, too bad it can't grow with him. Arrrggh
Caleb can be my knight in shinning armor anytime!
Though she didn't love the wings much she was adorable in her little costume.

Even in a bulky costume Jack can break out with that cute little smile.

"Mater" was asleep when he got to our house but it didn't take him long to get into the spirit.
Tanner is into "Cars" big time right now so his costume was pretty appropriate.

And a cute little fairy, Olivia, looked so sweet, and beautiful as always.

Our last spooky family of the evening, cute as a button.